Dear Readers, Please accept my sincerest apologies for the time it has taken me to write this post. After losing my beloved dog and best friend, Lola, a few months ago now, I felt quite lost and, for a while, […]

It’s unsurprising, but heartbreaking that ‘for the love of black girls’ chronicles how often communities & lovers fall short of recognizing Black girls – here, perhaps permutations of the same girl – in needed complexity and beauty. Power in naming how & why they’ve been boxed & commodified & manipulated manifests in validating their responses and lives in the process.

Sophia Falco is a slam poet, devoted yogi, and epic gardener who has struggled with bipolar disorder. The tallest sunflower she ever grew was 16 feet tall. She is also a published nature photographer in the Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review.

Jade Mitchell is a poet residing in Glasgow, Scotland. She is a poetry reader for Up The Staircase Quarterly. Her work has been featured in Words Dance Publishing, Persephone’s Daughters, L’éphémère Review, Rising Phoenix Review, and others. Her work can be found on her blog: vagabondly.tumblr.com.

Radhika Sarpotdar, a fresh law graduate of Indian origin and a seasoned anxiety patient, has always considered her writing to be her safe place. Through her poetry, she hopes to encourage awareness and discusssions about mental health. Also, she loves books, fried chicken, and naps.

Amy Deakin is a South West London performance poet and writer who enjoys inflicting poetry upon the unwary. She can be found at various open mic venues and recently published her debut poetry collection, Morden and Other Tourist Destinations (William Cornelius Harris Publishing).

Christina Xiong’s debut chapbook, The Gathering Song, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Christina holds an MA in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and a BA in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She is a Certified Story Medicine facilitator and a Certified North Carolina Peer Support Specialist. She lives in the foothills of Western North Carolina with her family.

M. D. Wheatley is a creative writing undergraduate student at the University of Worcester, progressing to postgraduate study at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham. His work seeks to cast an unflinching light on the queer experience, exploring topics such as sexuality, pornography, and gender performance.